Cohost Union News

Labor Notes is out with a new piece this morning on the struggle at Nickelodeon Animation Studios! Although they're unionized, workers there have been without a contract for over 900 days now. In an attempt to pressure the company back to the negotiating table and to win a new contract they've recently escalated their bargaining efforts to include sudden walkouts—and today they're calling on members of the community to sign their petition against Nickelodeon.

You can sign that petition below the cut, and as always I encourage to read Labor Notes—they do good work and have good resources for unionizing your workplace.

IATSE and The Animation Guild are touting a major development today: they're seeking to unionize a group of 10 remote-working animation workers employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. This group is known as “The Traveling Lab” within WDAS, and as far as I know they would be the first bargaining unit consisting entirely of remote-work employees.

This is a significant development because, as IATSE and TAG put it―and in exchange for their remote-work status―remote-working employees of animation studios have largely been denied the contracts and protections that unionized members of the industry have.

Out of nine ballots counted in a National Labor Relations Board election on Thursday, nine workers at the Lab — who live outside of L.A. County but work on Walt Disney Animation Studios projects — voted to join the subsidiary of crew union IATSE. [...]

As a result of its win in the NLRB vote, the union is arguing that it may be able to get these remote workers benefits that are comparable to those that their L.A. counterparts receive — depending on what is achieved in a first contract. “It’s something like I really do feel is going to be a gamechanger for the Animation Guild’s history and it is another indication of the Animation Guild exercising its national jurisdiction,” says Speight. “We’re going to look at TAG 10 years from now and the workforce for the L.A.-based studios are going to be national.”

IATSE and The Animation Guild are touting a major development today: they're seeking to unionize a group of 10 remote-working animation workers employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. This group is known as “The Traveling Lab” within WDAS, and as far as I know they would be the first bargaining unit consisting entirely of remote-work employees.

This is a significant development because, as IATSE and TAG put it―and in exchange for their remote-work status―remote-working employees of animation studios have largely been denied the contracts and protections that unionized members of the industry have.

IATSE has been up to quite a bit in these past few months that I haven't had a chance to cover for one reason or another—here's a few headlines that should get their due now.

The Animation Guild (TAG) successfully organized in Puerto Rico last month!

IATSE is the union under which The Animation Guild (TAG) is organized, and last month TAG scored a big victory in Puerto Rico. Gladius Studios—a San Juan-based animation studio—unionized, becoming TAG's first victory outside the continental US. Although they're not a prominent studio, Gladius is actually one of the largest animation companies in the Caribbean and they do quite a lot of work. Their scope might be best indicated by the jobs the union represents—although the union is just 14 strong it includes "modelers, a visual development artist, [an] animator, [a] concept artist, [a] graphic designer, [a] UI/UX artist, [a] compositor, [a] lighting artist, [a] gameplay programmer, and [a] rigger."

One of their modelers, Sylvette Rosario, was also quite clear that unionization wasn't just about the workers of Gladius themselves, but about making Puerto Rico's small animation industry more competitive:

We wanted to have a voice, and be heard. But also we want to make Gladius a more sustainable place to work, opening more doors to retain creative talent in Puerto Rico.

Broadway workers ratify the renegotiated Pink Contract

A few weeks ago IATSE called a strike authorization vote for its workers on the Pink Contract—workers directly employed by stage productions, in short. That strike, had it occurred, would have shuttered almost all Broadway productions. A tentative agreement between the Broadway League and IATSE quickly followed, and earlier this month was ratified by about 70-30.

According to IATSE, wins on the new Pink Contract include:

The Health Care plan will stay the same for the length of the contract with no added cost to workers. Both Heads and Assistants would see wage increases to match the street rate for touring shows, with Broadway minimum rates increasing to move towards parity with similar workers in other Locals. Employers would be required to provide hotel accommodations and increase the daily per diem, reducing touring workers’ out-of-pocket expenses as hotel and food costs continue to rise. And for the first time ever, the bargaining committee got the employers to agree on language which provides a day off for workers, as the union has emphasized for years.

Employees at Rochester-based game studio Workinman Interactive file for union election with IATSE

IATSE may also be on its way to representing its first ever video game union! The employees of Workinman Interactive—a Rochester, NY game studio that specializes in what I think are best described as apps—filed for an election with the NLRB. today Although their employers refused to voluntarily recognize the union, a supermajority of the company signed union cards with IATSE and there seems to be broad optimism about the unionization effort.